The newly elected leader of Gujarat BJP, Vijay Rupani, was on 7 August, 2016 sworn in as the 16th Chief Minister of Gujarat. Nitin Patel was sworn in as deputy Chief Minister.

Besides Mr. Rupani and Mr. Patel, seven Cabinet Ministers and 16 Ministers of State (MoS) were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor O.P. Kohli.

Mr. Patel has been a member of the State Cabinet since January 2003 when then Chief Minister Narendra Modi appointed him junior minister for Energy and Ports. Subsequently, he emerged as a key figure, liaising with industries and corporates for the biennial Vibrant Gujarat summits.

Eight other ministers from the Anandiben administration have been dropped in the new cabinet while Speaker Ganpat Vasava, a tribal leader from south Gujarat, has been made a cabinet minister.
Two junior ministers Jayesh Radadia and Dilip Thakor have been elevated to the cabinet rank and nine new faces inducted.

Vijay Rupani
Born in Rangoon (now Yangon, in Myanmar) to Ramniklal Rupani in 1956, Mr Rupani grew up in Rajkot where he joined RSS as a school boy. He pursued BA and then LLB.

Between 2006-12, he was a member of Rajya Sabha. During this period he was a part of various Parliamentary committees on water resources, food, public distribution, public undertaking, etc.

He was made the chairman of the Gujarat Municipal Finance Board in 2013. In October 2014, he won Assembly bye-election from Rajkot West with a handsome margin after the sitting MLA Vajubhai Vala resigned upon appointment as Karnataka Governor.

On February 19, Mr Rupani became the state BJP president, replacing R C Faldu.